So I had my first IWSG post in March, which seems so long ago now. I had been blogging for a couple months at the time, but all my posts were more like journal entries, just for me to read. I didn't know how to get out there and just start talking to people. Then I found this group and talked to a few people the first month. And then the April challenge hit and I talked to a few more. I'm beginning to feel like a real blogger now. So much has changed in the past few months.
Thank you to everyone who's come to visit me, left a comment once or twice, or leaves comments regularly. :) I try to hit as many blogs as my nights allow for most of the week, though I do need to take a night or two off to relax.
It's great to feel involved in a group like this and in the blog hop events. I've started highlighting exciting news of other bloggers when I find the announcements in time, and I'd like to do it more. :) I'll soon set up a new tab for guest posting and highlighting. So if there's something you'd like me to highlight, then feel free to email me.
More news I have about getting involved is receiving the opportunity to work with Ciara Knight on her Goodreads group The Knights of the Round Table. I know very little about moderating a Goodreads group, but I'm determined to learn fast and do the best job I can! It's a really fantastic group bringing authors and readers together, giving readers the opportunity to read books for free in exchange for reviews. What a great concept and I'm thrilled to be a part of the group. Please, check it out. Thanks again, Ciara!
The rules for this award:
This award is for book bloggers only. To receive this award the blog
must be at least 50% about books (reading or writing is okay)
Along with receiving this award, you must also share your top five favorite books you have ever read. (More than five is okay) You must give this award to 5-10 3 (I'm bending the rules a little) other lucky book blogs you adore.
Along with receiving this award, you must also share your top five favorite books you have ever read. (More than five is okay) You must give this award to
Here are my favorite books (in no particular order):
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
- The Wastelands (The Dark Tower III) by Stephen King
- The Marbury Lens by Andrew Smith
- American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
- The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
And I'm passing this award on to three bloggers I greatly admire:
Thanks for reading. And don't forget to enter my blog hop giveaway starting Thursday, checkout my guest post on Alex's blog on Friday, and download a FREE copy of Provex City this weekend from Amazon!
I remember how my first few blog posts felt like I was writing/talking to myself.
ReplyDeleteI only read the last two books on your list.
Congrats on the award.
I will have to check out The Knights of the Round Table and your blog hop giveaway. Congrats on exploring new territory in the blogging world.
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely hard to find your way as a blogger in the beginning, but you seem to be doing really well!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the well deserved award Michael.
ReplyDeleteYvonne.
Medeia, thank you, it felt weird talking to myself initially.
ReplyDeleteJames, that you do!
Kyra, thanks, I appreciate that. :)
Yvonne, thank you!:)
WOW, You started blogging around the same time I did. You are doing great! Keep it up
ReplyDeleteI'm a fellow IWSG member. Hi, Michael. Nice to meet you.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I really started to feel like a real blogger until a few months ago. Granted, I've been blogging for some two years now. A couple months ago, I really started to reach out to other bloggers. I started to form a circle blogging friends. That is what made the difference. Now, it a reciprocal action, not just me rambling on about whatever. Anyway, nice to meet you! :D
Michael, you are such a natural at the blogging bit. It's awesome. I'm heading over to check out the Knights of the Round Table group. Cool. :)
ReplyDeleteMichael, I completely forgot about the IWSG! I feel so bad! I keep trying to keep my face above water but I don't think I'm particularly good to accomplish all the tasks I've set for me. I guess I'll have to try harder.
ReplyDeleteAbout the award, thank you so much! It means a lot to me that talented authors like yourself keep thinking about me when award season hits. Thanks so very much. I'll post my acceptance speech next tuesday.
That goodreads group sounds great! I'll look for it and try to add my name to it, and for the bloghop, I don't know how you have time for everything, but I'll surly check out your posts. Good luck!
First-I love your blog header. And congrats on the award. Good book choices!!
ReplyDeleteThat's why I started this group! To help other writers connect and find encouragement.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you'll make an awesome moderator for Ciara's group.
Thanks for the shout-out, Michael! I'm always happy for an excuse to talk about books. ;)
ReplyDeleteYou've made great progress in such a short amount of time! I started out in a similar boat, but with the opposite feelings about it. I kept my blogging private for YEARS. Only a handful of my closest friends knew where to find it and I was keeping it as a journal, mostly for myself. In fact, I was my own biggest fan and sometimes I'd just sit around a re-read my own blogs for fun... which is weird, because I'm honestly not a self-absorbed person! I am, however, a very private person. Therein lies my big insecurity: fear of sharing, fear of plagiarism, fear of getting no response. When you're talking to yourself, you're guaranteed a positive reaction, right? Anyway, the point is that I've only opened up in the last few weeks to the vast opportunities I've discovered since my first flash fiction attempt. Bloggers like you - openly sharing their thoughts on writing and supporting one another - are proving just how much I've been missing out on by keeping to myself. Your Goodreads moderation sounds fascinating and I look forward to just about any blog hop I stumble across. Keep us posted!
ReplyDeleteThanks for putting yourself out there... and keeping the rest of us going!
I loved American Psycho and remember buying it when it had to be sold wrapped in plastic, great marketing ploy really, because I HAD to know what was in there. I always use this book as an example of great horror writing, the worst scenes where the ones Brett Easton Ellis DIDN'T mention. Very clever.
ReplyDeleteI want to try the Dark Tower again - I only just started the first one and got very confused, it seemed really postmodern.
Probably said it before but I love your blog design.
You've really come a long way in these last few months, that's awesome. I'm actually a member of the Round Table group but I always seem to run out of time to participate on Goodreads. I need to fix that and check the group out.
ReplyDeleteGreat books! A couple I will need to look up. I recently saw American Psycho.. brilliant and disturbing.. I wondered if he was just imagining the whole thing.
ReplyDelete:)
Andrea
Heather, thank you! Can we still be called newbies? haha.
ReplyDeleteMina, thanks, I hope to see you there. :)
Gina, you're so welcome, support is definitely needed because this takes a lot more time than I originally thought.
Jenny, thanks! Glad you enjoyed them.
Alex, thank you, Friday is just around the corner.
Nicole, you're welcome, and I love to read your thoughts on them.
T, thanks, just keep sharing a little at a time. :)
Charmaine, the first dark Tower is very different from the others, it has a different feel to it. If you get make it to the second one, you'll be hooked.
Julie, thank you, and when you book's ready, you'll need to get it on the list. :)
Andrea, I like the way the book describes everything in the end better than the movie, but I love both. I can't believe they're already supposed to be remaking it.
I really know what you mean about starting out as a blogger; however, I felt like I was talking to every person on the planet all at the same time, and though I knew this wasn't true from a logical standpoint, I felt like hiding out in my house, lol.
ReplyDeleteI also began to drive myself crazy with the "what ifs." What if I get nasty comments? What if no one finds what I say the slightest bit interesting? What if I give up on it? And on and on.
Now, I'm so glad I took the plunge. And I want to thank you so very much for connecting me to the IWSG--it's exactly what I needed when I needed it. :D
Jennifer, it's nice to see you out and about! Blogging is a crazy creature and still makes me nervous. I look forward to your future posts and to talking with you more. :)
ReplyDeleteBlogging does feel like that sometimes! But you never know who's lurking without commenting, mwahahaha.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I'm having a YA Blurb Fest at my secondary blog, TBR, this weekend, and I'd love for you - or any YA author who reads this - to participate. I love helping other authors, too. It's a great feeling.
Here's the link:
http://tbrtheblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/ya-blurb-fest-this-weekend.html
And you truly must write more flash fiction and I must read them here cos I really enjoyed the last one!
ReplyDeleteAll the best being a Goodreads moderator!!! And working with the adorable and ever so amazing Ciara too! You lucky thang you!!! :-)
Hoorah for your Booker Award! The real world is so overrated! Take care
x
I hadn't realized you'd just began blogging in March. Your blog has the "I've been here forever" feel to it. Compliments to you, my friend. :)
ReplyDeleteAs for the Booker Award, I'm most honored to be one of your 3 choices!! I love being "booky". My hubby calls me a bookworm. He says if there's a book within a mile radius of my nose, I can sniff it out. LOL.
I will post my fav. books and pass on the award later this week. After my Stanley Hotel report, that is, hopefully by Tuesday evening.